I actually switched from my iPhone 4S to a HTC One a couple of days ago.
My friends would describe me as a Apple nut. 2 Macs, Time Capsule, iPad, iPhone, iPod... all that jazz.
But now, I peaked over the fence a little.
Here are my observations so far: (I?m using Nova Launcher btw, so no Blinkfeed)
Pros
- Display Size: it is so great for watching youtube videos, along with the awesome resolution and pretty loud and overall great speakers
- quick settings, gameboy emulators and all that good software stuff
- the hardware itself is so much nicer to my hands, since it has no "sharp" edges and is nicely rounded
- WIDGETS, WIDGETS, WIDGETS: So much apps are better on the iPhone, but without widgets, I would not even use twitter or Evernote, since it?s a pain in the *** to constantly switch apps on iOS, see next bullet point
- overall workflow: the unified "back" button takes me back to the previously used app, which the iPhone home button doesn?t. I have to double-press it, select the app I want to use and switch to that.
- Keyboards! I love modding the keyboard, not having to tap on the text but instead moving my thumb across the keyboard to move the cursor.
- Lightning (app): The relatively bright and large display would be not so awesome to turn on in the middle of the night. lightning puts a red filter on that and makes it easier on the eye to read everything. Sure some (iOS) apps have night mode integrated, but it?s nothing compared to having it system wide.
- Multitasking! It is so frustrating on iOS to, say, switch between the facebook app and Safari, and each of them has to reload all of the content every f****** time you switch.
Cons
- Ironically for google, finding the apps that I want is more difficult on Android. I find myself relying on direct links in chrome more than using the actual play store.
- syncing music can obviously be done wirelessly, but my experiences so far haven?t been great because I was relying on the Apple Lossless format (Mac User here). I can put it on the device, then it tells me it can not play it. Once I convert everything into flac, it?s flawless... but I gotta have every song stored twice. (Don?t say google music, no credit card for me)
- The UI sometimes stutters and lags for no apparent reason, especially when flicking through previews in google image search and the likes. Quad-Core my ***.
- The overall responsiveness isn?t that great compared to even the iPhone 4 (not 4S, mind you). It takes relatively long to show me that it actually got my input right in chrome, flipboard, music widgets? I find myself questioning if it actually is going to process my input way too often, tap again and be one step further than I?d like to be.
Neutral observations
- The difference between having fully configurable desktops VS having all your apps on the desktop all the time is night and day. I don?t actually prefer one over the other, since I like my desktop nice and clean (+1 for Android) but if I have to use an app that I don?t like having on the desktop, I have to rely on the app drawer anyway (+1 for iOS)
- There are tradeoffs in usability when you enter screen sizes 4" and larger, but reading websites, watching video etc. is so much more enjoyable
- You have more choices with Android; how your phone looks, how it behaves? but ultimately, because it is never quite perfect, you end up fiddling around more instead of actually using it. Kind of a philosophical issue.
- app selection is obviously different. Some apps I like better on android because of the stupid limitations apple puts on them on iOS, but I can?t find a match for Fantastical as a calender app with natural language input, as well as other productivity related apps
Bottom Line
So what did I learn so far by using Android?
Since I still have an iPad Mini, I can kind of compare the to OSs side by side.
What I have to say: The performance of the Android UI in terms of fluidity and responsiveness is far behind iOS, considering the raw power the HTC One has over any type of iOS device, and the iPad Mini is not exactly state of the art hardware anymore.
Animations are also sometimes confusing, since when the app changes, e.g. I want the web view of a flipboard article or click on a play store link in chrome, there is this really subtle fade in and fade out which made me question if the app actually changed or it is simply another kind of embedded viewing function of the current app.
But the quick settings, Widgets, Dropbox integration and easy replacement for nearly every app I am using on iOS make me actually work faster on android than I could on iOS, even though it feels slower at times. I even use apps now on android that are highly praised on iOS, but were not usable to me because of the lack of widgets. This opens up entirely new workflows, and I can?t stress enough how much of a difference I think this is going to make for me in the future.
So, to conclude:
Don?t want to crush anybody?s hopes, but I don?t think any of those 2 mobile OSs is far superior over the other. I?ll still giggle like a school girl when iOS7 comes out for my iPad, but I also have that passion now when it comes to Android updates, especially 4.2.2 in the next days.
It?s just.. what do you want to do?
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